June 19, 2013

U.S. Postal Service Employee’s ‘Bombshell’ Leak Is a Dud

The U.S. Government is undoubtedly pleased today as a self-declared “bombshell” leak promised by U.S. Postal Service employee Dwayne Johnson turned out to be little more than a litany of complaints against a co-worker. “First there was Manning, then Assange, then Snowden,” the beleaguered mail carrier trumpeted Monday in the Swiss capital of Bern, shortly before an international press conference at which he promised to leak classified U.S. Government information.

While it isn’t clear whether Johnson has a future at the U.S. Post Office, it is almost certain that Elsinger Gohl, the Swiss ambassador to the United States will step down. Gohl was the most compelling voice behind the Swiss government’s decision to grant Johnson asylum prior to announcing the “leaks.”

“We thought he was the next Manning… He thought he was the next Manning… But he was just an idiot from the post office,” Gohl said to MPR’s Robert Pinderhughes during live coverage of the event on Monday’s edition of (Most) Things Considered.

Johnson’s so-called leaks, detailed on a microfiche disseminated to reporters, contains only a list of complaints lodged against another Postal Service employee named LaTonya. Johnson alleges that LaTonya gambled on Postal Service property (supported by Johnson’s claim that she once uttered, “That man’s booty is so fine I will bet you he’s gay”), drank on the job (“Alize Gold Passion Premium Malt Beverage,” as Johnson describes it), and made violent threats (supposedly telling Johnson that if he continued to speak to her she would “beat [Johnson] like he stole something”).

While LaTonya’s last name is being withheld from the press until an official U.S. Postal Service inquiry is made, the allegations seem doubtful at best considering Johnson’s stunt. At the end of the day, this may in fact simply be the work of “an idiot from the post office.”